5 schoolchildren dead after high winds rip bouncy castle off the ground

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UPI

Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Five schoolchildren died in Australia on Thursday when authorities say a bounce castle they were playing in during a celebration was picked up by a gust of wind and the children fell out of it.

The incident occurred at a school in Devonport in Australia's island state of Tasmania.

Officials said nine children were in the castle when a strong gust of wind picked it up. Some of them fell from the inflatable castle about 30 feet to the ground.

Police said four of the children, two boys and two girls, died at the scene. A fifth child died later at the hospital.

Tasmania Police Commissioner Darren Hine said some of the other children were injured.

The children in the castle were reported to be about 10 or 11 years old.

"On a day when these children were meant to be celebrating the last day of primary school," Hine said, according to The New York Times. "Instead we're all mourning their loss."

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the events were heartbreaking.

In 2019, two children were killed in a similar accident in China when a bouncy castle was also swept into the air.

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